How Do You Hit A Topspin In Table Tennis?

New players ask, how do you hit a topspin in table tennis, usually after the first time they see the ball curving down in a confusing fashion. Taking the table tennis game up a notch from just tapping the ball back and forth requires additional skills. Hit a topspin in table tennis and have your opponent scrambling for the ball.

To hit a topspin in table tennis, you need:

paddle

ball

practice partner

Get the ball in play. It's harder to hit a topspin from a ball that's at a stand still. The ball will have better response when hitting a return.

Start with the paddle lower than the incoming ball. The face of the paddle should be perpendicular to the ground initially and end higher than the ball after the hit.

As the ball comes into shot range start the swing. The paddle should go from lower than the ball and then strike the ball in mid swing, while still perpendicular to the ground, and continue the follow through swing higher than the ball.

The more dramatic the low to high swing is, the more topspin the ball has. Practice different variations and get a feel for how much topspin you can give the ball. You can hit a ball much harder if it has a lot of topspin since it won't go off of the table.

Topspin shots have the ball spin forward to the opponent with the top of the ball rotating towards the opponent. The aerodynamic conditions of this spinning ball results in a lower pressure on the bottom of the ball making the ball curve down to the table faster than a normal shot.